WordPress Plugin Changelogs

Have you added a changelog to your plugin yet? If not, I’d really like to send out a general request that you all take the time to do so, as it will make my life easier.

Over on the WordPress blog, they’ve made finding out how to add information to your plugin relating to the various things you’ve done between versions, and this information can be very important for those working with your plugin.

We’ve recently made some changes to help improve the communication between plugin authors and plugin users about the changes that are made between versions.

We feel that all software should have a changelog that details, at a high level, what changes have been made in each version so that the user can make an informed decision about when to upgrade and how much testing they should do with their site.

In order to make this an easy and open communication channel we have added support for a Changelog section in the plugins readme.txt file. This changelog information is then displayed as a separate tab in the plugin directory and also in the back end of your WordPress blog when you view the details on a new version of a plugin.

So if you don’t yet have a changelog section in your readme.txt file, now is the time to add one, and if you need more information on the structure or what you should include, check out the WordPress blog posting on the matter.